Windshield defroster for automobile heaters



April 3, 1951 E. L.-MAYO ETAL 2,547,404

WINDSHIELD DEFROSTER FOR AUTOMOBILE HEATERS Filed Seat. 20, 1946 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 ileum/0w 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 [Ill 8i! fans: [Jud/r0 Mayo,

Ap 3, 1951 E. L. MAYO ETAL wmusnmw DEFROSTER FOR AUTOMOBILE HEATERS Filed Sept. 20. 1946 fOtherfeaturesof our invention will become Patented Apr. 3, 1951 "wists-mm iiimiibsimron AUTUMOBILE HEATERS ApplicatiofiSeptember 20,

alums. (cu-2994s) "invent on relates to automobile windshield "as" roster equipfrient. I

f-A utofiiobile" 'ahdf'truck manufacturers provide,

"and for some time" past-have provided,"so-ca1led t' air slots 'in"thef'body, at the top of the 115 "li board, adjacent the "bottom of the windsh1e d 'forf-"the purpo'se of receivinghot air from --a" soiircethereof and delivering it upwardly agaiifsfith ir'mer surface of the windshield for I defrosting purposes,

{Many-automobileheaters are provided with a -hot airfduct, or} ducts "(other than that or those for "warming the passenger compartment) for th urpo'se of direct connection with-such slots,

and thefpdrpose-"oi-the present invention is to ployment of-l-an adapter and I 'p rgv'iae' nipme'ntffor such connection which f's'h'alh sdfaras po's sib1e,;be universal in itsapplicadn, 1. eLibefa-claptablel to 'thevarious makesof c rs 'andtrucks; the point being that thev'a'ri- T fo'usn i'alges of cars and'trucks have their hot air flfi "islets of difierent lengths; and-located at different fjdistaln'ces'apartjand have theirheaters variously located. I

Ioi'accor nplishthe said purpose, we proyide, insu alien-gm of iflex ible hose (o fu'su a-l circular (T J I OS ST- QGCti OH) ffblfmed to' an elliptical shape 'at 'ieachf end -for 'thejr'eception of a correspondingly aged and of a'no'zzle member having'an' elongat'eddischarge'outlet and having an elongated slotted supporting flange at each" end. The hOSe SO maybe cut into appropriatelengths for connection'to'the'appropriate duct or ducts of the heater, 'and'the nozzle members maybe applied to the hot-air slots at'the t'op' of the 'd ash-board; =all*as "*here inaftendescribed as 'an' exam m; and; where:i

s theislots 5a and 511, so that all oftheheated air will loe-"cr'mserved for direction to the windshield.

necessary; an adapter may be employed'between the nozzle members and the hot air-slots V The" hozzle' m'ernber's are formedto -require a miii-imumflof space, and the length and width of heir discharge outlets are such as to"correspond-l40 o' the longer and wider hot air slots likelyto be "cu tereq. -Thefslotted" flan ges are' offsuch length as tob -a daptable'to the reception of Eas i teiiing-rheans'how'ever located in fvarious' m'akes 0 rs and t'rilcks. f In exceptional cases, an :345" "a p er,'fwhich will be described', inaybe'used to fit t' enozzle members to the hot air'slots.

' parent-fromfthe iollowing description, taken 1 with' the' related dmw ings'; in which:

FiQliIe 1 is a fragmentary'view of the wind- 'shield'pf miautomobile as though Viewed from the 'front seat thereof,"-' portions off-the f da'shboard being broken away to reveal the hot 'air siocsaajatenetne Windshield;

Figure: 2 iszaertical sectional :vieW ,of the heater 'of Eigurell -lillustrating more or less diagrammatically',thersourcejandflow of heated airiwhich 4 is delivered .1130 the hot :;air slots adjacent the 1 windshield Figure 3 :isan enlargedplan view of one of the l nozzle members Figures. 4 iscanrelevational View of the nozzle shown insection; .sand the '-.end;:jof ,the; attached -hose' being shown in section;

Figure 5; illu'stratesrthe zhose and-nozzle membrs' 'as' packaged and sold priorto installation;

Figure 6 is a ViGW IOf-thG 00111160131011 between a nozzleimember andzahotbair; slot, with the em- Figure 7: is a plan view-of .theiadapter1of; Eigiire 6.

H'Like r'eference'numerals havexbe'en employed in the?several zviewsi.tosindicate the same ele- 'ments.

- Referring nowto'Eigures/lI, 2,.3 and 4, an auto- ?iniobile Windshieldis indicated :generally by the reference numeral I, the windshield being formed of two portions divided by, a frame, member 2. mne frame member. 2 and frame members 3,

3 ofthedashboardl 4 areiformed hot air outlets or "slot's 5a :and 5b, respectively, each. slot being located more or less centrally atvthe lower edge of- V the Linner surface of the. adjacent windshield portion I. *Gaskets, suchl'as the gaskets 6, are

usuall'yemployed in'the frame members 3, about -The nozzle-members..7a and .lhrespectively,

' are connected totheloweropenings of the. slots lid-and 5b,- bymean's of 'thescrews 8., engaging the downwardlystruck portions 9 of the frame l members 3. Asection of hose Ma and another sction'ofhos lflb serveto join a Siamese con- -'nct'ion l o f theheater "I2 with the twov nozzle m ri' i'ber's' lwand'lb.

Referr imr nowto Figure 2, wh ch: shows an adaptable heater; indicated generally by the ref- --'*erence numera1-12, it will'be seen that there is =-anout1et duct IB which joins the Siamese con- "nction ll withthe-housing14 enclosing the -'blower 15. The casing of the heater contains a v "ening lll s drawri-by-thefa'n 20, driven by a; motor 22;suitably xsupported anthe -back 3 wall 24 of the casing and having shaft 26 carrying the fan 20 and also the blower IS. The front wall 28 of the casing has a plurality of adjustable doors 3!) which may be opened to permit heated air to pass into the passenger compartment. A portion of the air drawn through the radiator l'I-will be drawn inwardly and backwardly by the blower l and on to the outlet 13, for delivery through the flexible hose sections I00, and lb to the respective hot air slots 5a and 5b.

The nozzle members la and lb are identical, and will now be described, referring particularly to Figures 3 and 4.

lhe nozzle member is substantially elliptical where it joins the flexible hose Mia, and has pairs of holes 32 and 3 on each of the sides, through which holes staples 35 may be passed to secure the hose and nozzle member together; where the hose its isconnected to the nozzle member, it is flattened to an elliptical shape corresponding to that of the nozzle member end, and it fits it tightly. The discharge outlet is generally oblong in shape and the nozzle member flares to it (lengthwise) from the elliptical portion, as shown at 38. A pair of partition walls Ml and 42 extend across the narrow dimension of the portion 38, serving to strengthen the structure and also to direct the outward flow of hot air. As will be noted hereinafter, the distance between the up per edges of the walls 40 and d2, adjacent the discharge outlet 3-8, is substantially the same as the distance between the ends of the smaller hot air slots which are likely to be encountered.

From each end of the body of the nozzle member, flush with the top thereof, there extends an elongated flange, 4 2 and 46, having a slot 48 extending lengthwise thereof. Screws or bolts are adapted to pass through these slots 48, and by that means, the nozzle member may be secured to the body frame members, in juxtaposition to a hot air slot. In installations where the flanges are needlessly long (see Figure 1), they may be out off to fit.

Figure 5 illustrates the hose and nozzle unit as sold to persons who desire to connect the heaters of their automobiles with defroster slots adjacent the windshield. It will be seen that there is a single long section of flexible hose ill, with a nozzle member, such as the nozzles la and lb, secured at each end as has been described. In the preferred form, the hose is formed of a helical. wire 53, tted within a helically fluted covering 52. To give an idea of the dimensions of the various parts, it may be said that a hose having an inside diameter of approximately 1 inches has been found satisfactory in actual use. The end of the hose abuts against the flaring portion of the nozzle member, aiding in forming a substantially air tight connection with the nozzle member. Sheet metal screws, screws with speed nuts, or machine screws and nuts, are supplied with the hose and nozzle units, for use in securing the flanges on either side of the nozzle members to the dash-board in alignment with the hot air slots. As already pointed out, the hose is severed so that the proper connections can be made from the heater to the two nozzles.

The dimensions of the discharge outlets of the nozzles are such as to encompass the largest hot air slot likely to he encountered, and the nozzles are thus applicable to most cars and trucks. However, there are a few exceptions, and, to meet these cases, we provide an adapter for interposition between the discharge outlet of the nozzle member and the entrance to the hot air slot in the dash-board. As an example of such an adapter, reference is made to Figures 6 and 7.

The nozzle la is there shown connected to a frame member '59 having a small hot air slot 5a. An adapter plate, indicated generally by the reference numeral 12, is interposed between the frame member Hi and the nozzle member. The adapter plate 12 has a centrally-disposed short slot '14, substantially the size of the slot 5a, but smaller than the discharge outlet 36 of the nozzle la; the length of slot 15 is substantially equal to the distance between the upper edges of the walls 69 and d2 of the nozzle member. Down- Wardly projecting tabs 16, at the ends of the adapter plate 12, fit within the slots 48 of the flanges 44 and 35 of the nozzle member Ia, and the adapter plate and the nozzle member are secured together by clips 78 which are slipped over the ends of the tabs and into engagement with the flanges. Screws 86, passing through apertures 82 in the adapter plate '52, secure the adapter plate to the frame member. In making the connection illustrated in Figure 6, the adaptor plate is first secured to the member 18, about the hot air slot 511, by the screws 89, the nozzle member is then fitted over the tabs 16 of the adapter plate, and the clips 18 are slipped over the tabs to fasten the nozzle to the plate.

We claim:

1. In defroster equipment, in combination, a nozzle adapted to be used in conjunction with hot air slots which are located adjacent automobile windshields and which may be of varying sizes and locations, said nozzle comprising a tubular portion generally elliptical in cross section, adapted to receive a flattened end of a hose of circular cross section, said tubular portion flaring longitudinally to an enlarged portion having an elongated discharge opening corresponding in length to the longest hot air slot to be encountered, and slotted flanges connected with the nozzle and extending in opposite directions from said nozzle; and an adapter member having external dimensions as great as the discharge opening and having an aperture of dimensions corresponding to a hot air slot of smaller dimensions, said adapter member being aligned with the discharge opening of the nozzle by tongues which extend through the slotted flanges.

2. The combination of claim 1 together with a pair of transverse walls in the enlarged flared portion extending across its narrower dimension, the ends of said transverse walls adjacent the discharge opening being spaced apart a distance corresponding to the length of the aperture in said adapter member.

- 3. In defroster equipment, a nozzle adapted to be used in conjunction with hot air slots which are located adjacent automobile Windshields and may be of varying sizes and locations, said nczzle comprising a tubular portion generally elliptical in cross section adapted to receive a flattened end of a hose of circular cross section, said tubular portion flaring longitudinally to an enlarged portion having an elongated discharge opening, an exterior shoulder formed on the tubular portion where it flares longitudinally outwardly from the elliptical cross section, said shoulder being adapted to have the end of the hose abut against it to form a substantially air-tight connection with the nozzle, and flanges connected with the nozzle and extending in opposite directions from said nozzle.

4. In defroster equipment, a nozzle adapted to enlarged flared portion extending across its narrower dimension, said transverse Walls serving to deflect a portion of the air flow through the nozzle, and slotted flanges formed integrally with the end walls of the nozzle adjacent its discharge opening, said flanges and discharge opening being disposed in the same plane and being adapted to seat flush against a Wall, with the discharge opening aligned With a hot air slot in said wall.

.5. An article of manufacture for use in automotive vehicles having hot air slots in a wall, or walls, adjacent the windshield and a source of hot air, comprising a pair of nozzles, each nozzle having a tubular portion generally elliptical in cross section, adapted to receive a flattened end of a hose of circular cross section, said tubular portion flaring longitudinally to an enlarged portion having an elongated discharge opening, a pair of outwardly flared transverse walls in the enlarged flared portion extending across its narrower dimension, said transverse walls serving to deflect a portion of the air flow through the nozzle, slotted flanges formed integrally with the end walls of the nozzle adjacent its discharge opening, said flanges and discharge opening being disposed in the same plane and being adapted to seat flush against a Wall with the discharge opening aligned with a hot air slot in said wall, and a length of flexible hose having each of its flattened ends connected to the elliptical tubular portion of a nozzle, the length of said hose being such that it is at least equal to the combined distances from the source of hot air to the two hot air slots so that it will, when appropriately severed, interconnect the source of hot air and the pair of hot air slots regardless of the relative positions of said source and said pair of slots.

EDWARD L. MAYO. ARNSTEAD G. GETZ.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,209,386 Brickey Dec. 19, 1916 2,142,659 Schumann Jan. 3, 1939 2,152,338 Will Mar. 28, 1939 2,154,731 Crowley Apr. 18, 1939 2,277,869 Meyerhoefer Mar. 31, 1942 2,302,397 Spackman et a1 Nov. 17, 1942 

